Throttle-valve for pneumatic-tool handles



L SYKS. THRGTLE VALVE 03 PNEUM'HC GL HANDLES. ,wP-ucmmu m50 Am. x5. 15H9.

T ATTO/Wm muted Feb. 8,1921.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS SYKES, 01? CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 LEON G. BUCKWALTER, OF MERCHANTVILLE, NEW JERSEY.

THROTTLE-VALVE FORPNEUMATIC-TOOL HANDLES.

Application tiled April 15. 1919.

To all w hom t may conce/m:

Be it known that l, Lewis Simms, a citizen of the `United States, residing in the city of Camden, county of Camden, State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Throttle-Valve for Pneumatic-Tool Handles, of which the following' is a specification.

In pneumatic tools of the prior' art as generally commercially constructed, it has heretofore commonly been the custom to locate in the g asping or other portion oil the pneumatic tool handle, a valve bushing havinga bore therethrough of uniiorm diameter and to locate within said luishinp,` a sliding throttle valve composed of two pistons or heads of uniform diameter joined by a neck, which pistons control the *flow oi motive fluid through the handle 'to the valve and piston of the pneumatic tool.

While this construction may luwe the advantage of being cheaply manufactured` since, it may be somewhat cheaper to manufacture a bushing having` its internal bore ot' the same diameter throughout and it may also be somewhat cheaper to construct a throttle valve'with twopistons oill unit-erm diametera l have found that in these tools, which are subject to considerable vibration in use and are frequently subjected to considerable abuse by the workmen, a throttle valve et this character soon becomes leaky even when closed or supposed to be closed and is much less eliicient than athrottle valve of my novel construction hereinafter referred to.

For the purpose of obviatingthe disadvantages above enumerated, l havedevised my present invention which relates to a pneumatic tool handle generally employed in riveting, shipping, stone working, and analogous uses and consists ot a novel construction ot valvular mechanism, comprising a bushingof novel construction extending throughout the entire grasping portion of the pneumatic tool handle and having an upper solid portion having` therein an elongated bearing for the valve operating pin, said bushing having upper and lower heads, the upper' head being,- located near the middle oit the bushing, which latter has outlet ports above said upper or central head and inlet ports below said upper or 'central head, said bushing being further provided with a downwardly facing valve seat located Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 8, 1921.

Serial No. 290,123.

at a point directly above said inlet ports and having an upwardly seating1 and upwardly spring pressed ball valve coacting with said seat, the upper solid portion of said bushing above said outlet ports being accurately bored or drilled so that said valve actuating' pin or stem, which reciprocated therein and is depressed by a manually operated lever mounted in a slit in the upper portion of the grasping handle fits closely therein, whereby leakage is reduced to minimum and the ilow oi the compressed or other motive fluid under pressure from the supply hose Vto the valve cylinder is readily controlled through the medium oi' said ball valve and its adjunct-s, which valve instantly becomes seated when 'the operator removes his thumb or linger 'from said manually operated lever.

By my novel bushing construction, wherein the valve stem or valve operating pin has an elongated bearing` extending for considerable length in the upper solid portion of the bushing, leakage through the upper portion of the bushing,` is prevented.7 irrespective ot whether the valve is open or closed, and l in addition cause live air to constantly act on the bottom of the ball valve when seated, so that the tendency is vfor the valve to be always forced upwardly agr inst its downwardly facing' valve whereby said hall valve is always, when closed, pressed upwardly toward and against .its seat by the combined pressure of the live motive fluid and the coacting` spring.

ily my novel constructionnot only is the life of the throttle valve and its bushing` generally prolonged, and leakage of the compressed air entirely prevented, which item in large industrial plants, such as shipyards, boiler shops and the like, where number ci pneumatic tools of this general character are employed., is one of considerable importance, since the ball valve, in the handle will remain effectively seated under normal conditions of non-use or when the pneumatic tool is inoperative, but in addition, since valvular device consists of but two moving parts, to wit: the pin and ball valve, either or both oi these can be replaced in case ol wear or breakage, in a 'few seconds time by an ordinary mechanic at the expense ot a few cents, without necessitating the tool being laid up for repairs for any length oi time, and in addition by proroo viding a slot in the top oit the bushing or the valve operating lever7 l provide an etieetive guide for the lever cam which Contacts ivith the valve operating pin.

To the above endt my invention consists ot a novel construction of a pneumatic tool handle, bushing and ball valve therefor, wherein the valve operating pin has an clon gated bearing in the upper solid portion of the bushing and the valve seat-s upwardly against a downwardly 'te Ging valve seat and is under normal condi ays pressed. upwardly a*n n said seat l e air pressure from below, the valve be ig unseated by a doivnivard movement ot a manually operated lever or its equivalent, whereby Waste and leakage ot the compressed air are avoided or reduced to a minimum.

urther consists ot a novel construction ot pneumatic tool lri hushing, ball valve there'ioi.' and their aogunets wherein the ralrular mechanism comprising A'the valve and its stein are coi nosed ot only two partsvn so that in case oi ear, it is only necessary to renew-iv or replace that one of said parts which has become vworn.

lfor the purpose oi' illustratine' my invention l have shown in the accompanying drawing a typical embodiment of it, which is at present preferred by me, since this embodiment will give in practice satisfactory and reliahle results, although it is to be undei that the various instriunentalities ot Which my invention consists can he variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to the precise arrangement and organization ot these instrumentalitiea as herein shown and described.

l represents a sectional ifieiv ot a pneumatic tool handle showing a bushing therein, having its upper p rtion solid and providing an elongated bearing for the valve operating pin and a hall throttle valve embodying my invention, the valve being shown? in elosfl position.

Fig. represents a sectional vieW of a handleJ luishing and its adiuncts, sin Fig, l, but showing the throttle valve in open position and the valve pin or stein and manually operated lever in depressed position.

vepresents a perspective vieiv of a 'ind its niiet-s.

)arts in the e responder4 i d.

Referring to the drawings l designates a pneumatic tool handle ing an inlet chamber 2, `which is located at the lower outer portion ot the handle and contains the nipple 3 for the compressed air hose, the compressed air or other motive fluid or i'iuid pressure passing through the inlet chamber 2 and the bushing ports et into the lower Valve chamber 5, which is located in the lower portion ot the bushing 6, the bottom of said bushing being closed by the threaded plug' or closure T, which serves as a support l'or the coiled spring or equivalent tension device 8, the bottom ot which spring is in contact With the top of said plug, While the upper end ot said spring is in Contact with the under side ot the ball valve 9, which is positively pressed against the downwardly facing valve seat l0, through the medium ot said spring 8, it being apparent that when the valve 9 is seated as seen in Fig. l, live air pressure in addition is continuously at all times acting on the bottom thereof. The upper portion ot the bushing 6 is solid and provided with a here or air passage ll therein, which is of less diameter than the ball valve chamber 5 belouT said bore ll, which terminates at the shoulder or point l2, beloiv which are located the outlet ports 1B, which permit the escape ot the motive fluid into the pressure supply duct lll. The bushing G is provided with the upper or substantially central head l5 and the loiver head 16, the portion l? between said heads being ot somewhat reduced. diameter as is also the portion 18 above said head l5. The upper portion 19 of the bushing is of lesser diameter than the portion 18, and is solid, as will be understood from Figs. l and 2, being provided with a bore 2O therein, in which lits accurately the pin or valve stem 2l, whereby the ball valve 9 is moved from its closed or seated position seen in Fig. l into its open or unseated position seen in Fig. 2.

22 designates a manually operated lever having the thumb piece 28 which is pivotall f mounted at 2d in the slit 25 in the upper outer portion of the handle l, and having the cam 25, which moves in the slot 26 in the top oiI the bushing t5, said cam 25 bearing on the top of the pin 2l which its nicely and accurately in the elongated bearin 2G, so that in practice there'is no leakage or' motive 'liuid under any comlitions through the upper solid portion 19 of the bushing. 1When the manually operated lever 22 is depressed trom the position-seen in Fig. l into the position seen in 2, it will be apparent that the ball valve 9 will be unseated and motive fluid entering through the ports i and the bore 1l will Jtlow through the ports 13 into the pressure supply duct le to the vitale of the riret ing, clipping or other hammer 27 or the like. 1When the Workman removes his pressure trom the thumb piece 23, the spring' 8 will cause the valve to seat in the position lseen in Fig. l, and in addition the valve will loc tightly held against its seat by the pressure of the live motive fluid under it.

lt will be understood in practice that the heads l5 and 16 and the upper solid portion 19 of the bushing are so constructed as to tit with a drive fit Within the grasping handle, said parts 15, 16 and 19 being coated With lOO lilo

lll)

shellac before being driven into position so that auxY (2z-pense oi? threading the bushing into the handle is entirely obviated, the valve mechanism comprising merely the bushing 6, the pin 2l, the valve 9, spring 8 and the plug or closure 7.

is already explained in the old style of throttle valve, where the bushing has a bore ol' uniform diameter and the valve pistons are of uniform diameter, in a comparatively short period, owing to the wear between said pistons and bushing, there is a constant leakage of compressed air even when the throttle valve is closed or supposed to be closed, which it is especiallyr desirable to prevent on account of the expense and waste in volved, and, furthermore, during said waste and leakage, the inotive Huid is liable to low to the piston oi the tool, frequently causing the latter to accidentally start or ily out of the cylinder together with the tool bushing, rivet set or chisel or working tool, which may cause serious injury. v

lt will be apparent from the foregoing that iny novel bushing 6, constructed as described, together with my ball valve, valve operating pin, spring and closure, can be lurnished as a unit, as seen in Fig. 3, so as to be readily fitted into existing tool handles.

l ain aware ot' the construction seen in patents to Meissner, No. 626,497, and 636,810, wherein it has been proposed to employ a valve operating pin in conjunction with a multiplicity oli springs, plungers, locks and other contrivances, but said Meissner devices do not disclose a bushing constructed in r cordance with my invention, nor do they iisclose a ball valve collocated with such a busliing, as in my invention, nor do they disclose a bushing extending throughout the length oi the handle and provided with a solid upper portion,wherebyan elongated bear ing Yfor the valve operating pin is provided, and my invention is consequently diiferentiated in the foregoing and other respects from said Meissner patent.

l ain also aware that it has heretofore been proposed to employ hall valves in other locations, out so far as l ain aware, l am the first the art to employ a bushing of the character herein described, having its upper portion solid so as to provide an elongated bearing therein for the valve operat ing pin, in conjunction with a ball valve, a downwaroly lacing valve seat, and inlet and outlet ports collocated as above described, and my claims 'to these features are to be interpreted in accordance with the scope accorded to inventions ot this character.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure oy Letters Patent, is

l. The combination of a pneumatic tool handle having a pressure supply duct leading longitudinally through the grasping portion thereoi5 a manually operated valve lever pivotally mounted in a narrow slit in the upper outer portion of said handle and capable of iiree and unobstructed forward movenient at all limes, a throttle valve bushing extending throughout the grasping portion ol' said handle and having its upper portion solid and terminating at the upper and lower boundariesl thereof, said bushing having upper and lower bores therein oi' varying diameters, said lower bore being of greater diameter than said upper bore and said bushing having inlet ports in said lower larger bore and outlet ports leading from said upper smaller bore respectively, said latter ports leading to the outlet portion of said pressure supply duct, a closure secured within the lower portion of said bushing, a downwardly facing valve seat located in said bushing` at the auction of said bores, a ball valve seating upwardly against said seat to close the vlater, a spring supported upon said closure and acting on the bottom ol' said hall vali/'e for normally holding said ball valve against its seat, a valve operating pin of unilforni diameter insertilole in said bushing :troni either end and positioned. above said hall valve, said falve pin having its lower end disconnected :trom said valve, and having an elongated hearing in the upper solid portion oi said bushing so as to prevent leakage therethrough, and a cani on said valve lever in direct contact with the top of said valve stein to depress the latter, said valve pin being retained between said ball valve and cani.

2. ln a pneumatic tool handle having a pressure supply duct leading longitudinally through the grasping portion thereof, a bushing located in said grasping portion and comprising the heads 1 5 and 16, the reduced areas l and i8 and the solid upward extern sion having an elongated bearing therein, said bushing having a lower valve chamber, inlet ports leading to the upper portion of said valve chamber, a closure for the bottom of said valve chamber, a downwardly facing valve seat located above said inlet port-s, an upwardly seating ball valve for said valve chamber, a spring intermediate said closure and ball valve, a passage above said valve chamber, said passage having outlet ports leading therefrom, a valve operating pin oi' uniform diameter having an elongated. beariner in the upper solid portion ot said bushing, and a manually operated pin actuating lever pivoted in the upper outer portion of said handle, said lever having a cam thereon contacting' with the top of said pin, the top of said bushing being slotted so as to provide ways in which the under side of said lever and its pin-actuated oscillates.

3. As an improved article oi manufacture, the herein described unit adapted for insertion in a pneumatic tool handle, comprising a bushing' 6 having 'he heads und i@ und the portion 17 of reduced diameter between Said heads, :i portion 1S above said head 15 oi2 reduced diameter, mid :i solid elongated 5 portion 19 above Seid portion 1S and of lesser diameter than the latter, seid bushing having a lower valve chamber 5 and n bore 11 above said valve chamber and being provided with the inlet ports 4i and 'the outlet l0 ports 13 and the elongated bearing 20, n

'vulve eperating Din 2i in said bearing, a downwzirdly facing' faire Seat iocated between said inlet and outlet ports, a bull miv@ 9 in Said Valve Chamber, a closure 7 in ihe iower portion of Said bushing, :uid a spring 1 5 8 intern'xediae said bali Valve and closure.

LEWIS SYKES.

Vifitnesses J. XV. MEEKER, JOHN R. Humor. 

